Public Safety Communications Organizations – a primer

I’ve mentioned the general value of industry associations to one’s career. I now would like to present the key organizations within an industry that I am very familiar with – the Public Safety Communications industry. This will not likely be news to anyone in public safety, but it will serve as an example and perhaps as a guide to someone new to or considering a career in public safety communications.
The largest organization in this industry is APCO, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials. There are actually a number of APCO organizations around the world today. They grew out of the original U.S.-based APCO International
Something which APCO International has recently introduced is an online community for Public Safety communicators called PSConnect. This community is just gathering steam as I write this in May of 2010 but already I highly recommended it.
Serving Canadian is APCO Canada APCO Canada produces a bi-monthly magazine called Wavelength. The archives can be reached here.
BAPCO is the U.K version of APCO and down under there is APCO Australasia.
While APCO’s focus has been more on the radio dispatch side of the public Safety communications world, it also ventures into the 9-1-1 side of the dispatch centre. Another organization focuses just on the incoming calls for public safety assistance. That organization is the U.S.-based NENA (National Emergency Number Association). It too is a valuable resource to the public safety communications professional. In recent years they have been focusing on the next generation of 9-1-1 calls – calls that will be come into the 9-1-1 centre by means other than a telephone.
If you are in, or interested in, the public safety communications industry check out the links in this blog. If you are in another industry by all means discover what industry associations are available to you.